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If you use Gmail, you're probably looking for ways to stay on top of your old messages and clear up some unwanted messages.

Well don't worry - we've got you covered.

Not many people take full advantage of Gmail's powerful search filter and with space becoming an ever increasing issue with Google's 'Free' cloud storage of only 15gb; you have to make sure it lasts.

One of the best search filters is the size that lets you locate large files e.g. return all emails that have attachments greater than or equal to 5mb:

size:5m

Combine the size search with older_than and you can filter all your old emails larger than a given size e.g. return all emails that have attachments greater than or equal to 5mb and are over a year old:

size:5m older_than:1y

The Gmail filter supports what is known as a boolean search. That is, it supports the keywords AND, OR and NOT. So if you want to find an email from Amazon:

from:no-reply@amazon.co.uk OR from:(Amazon) OR from:(Amazon Marketplace)

Now, lets say you order something form Amazon and you want to find the order. Combine the from with the subject filter:

from:(Amazon Marketplace) AND subject:(your order)

You can mix and match up a large array of filters to locate exactly what you're looking for. A final example, filtering all emails from a sender older than a month that are smaller in size than 500kb:

from:(Amazon Marketplace) AND older_than:1m AND smaller_than:500k

Do you use any of Google's filters? You can get in touch with us by mentioning #ALJTMedia on Twitter, leaving a comment on our Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn page, or writing a comment below.

About the Author

From the small, to the large, Lewis has tackled and developed a vast selection of projects since he started developing over 8 years ago. Lewis has the ability to program in over 25 languages from the well-known; PHP, Java, C and Objective-C to the less well-known; RDFa, Sparql and Maude. For any queries regarding the realisation and development of your project, Lewis will be your primary contact. Outside of work, Lewis has a passion for films, music and he’s also a bit of a Disney geek.